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monica
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| Posted: June 16 2007 at 1:55am | IP Logged
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we are on our way back to the states (live in romania) for a whirlwind trip. we will be in 8 states in 6 weeks and will be driving over 2000 miles. sooo, i am looking for things to entertain my 4 yo as we travel. i know he would LOVE a leap frog pad thing. dont know what they are called, but the thing with the books and wand and stuff. i get majorly carsick if i read to him or even turn around to the back seat, so it will be just my hubby to help entertain 2 kids.
does anyone have opinions/ recommendations about leapfrog or any other computerish learning games? i am not a big fan of them, but i need something to get us through all those hours of travel. there are just only so many car songs i can sing. 
i am not decided on getting them, but i need some ideas.
thanks
monica
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Maryan
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Monica,
We travel a lot (8 hours to Grandma's house). So we use Leap Frog stuff for travel. But we HARDLY use them at home (I can't say never, but almost).
For our five year old, we have the Leapster. My mom got it for his birthday. It's definitely more "computer gam-ish" with a few letters thrown in. My four year old also likes to use it. He has one cartridge -- Cars. This is not as educational as the others, but it's small. It has the addictive quality of computer games though -- which can be a good thing in the car.
The other two leap pads that we have are the more educational version with the books and the cartridge. I like these better, BUT they are bulky to use in the car. But the boys do manage. We have tons of various cartridges and books that we got from families who have grown out of them. (They do have a smaller version too -- which if your son is 4, that might work -- but he'll grow out of it soon.)
Books on tape have also been a big hit with our crew (I recommend Jim Weiss, Great Hall productions -- he even categorizes his CDs by age). My boys love them.
When we're at home I hide the Leapster, and the others just usually sit untouched in their cabinets.
HTH
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Maryan
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jugglingpaynes
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Maryan wrote:
| Books on tape have also been a big hit with our crew (I recommend Jim Weiss, Great Hall productions -- he even categorizes his CDs by age). My boys love them. |
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I agree, books on tape are great in the car. We've done the Narnia series, Weiss reading The Wind in the Willows, and lots of music CD's
My kids have a Quantum Leap pad. My only beef about it is they enjoyed making it act weird (i.e.-tapping it to make the voice stutter).
I prefer playing games like 20 questions or Geography. I usually give the kids an atlas and let them cheat at Geography. The game lasts longer that way. 
We also like looking for wildlife and different state license plates.
Peace and Laughter,
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chicken lady
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I have broken down and for really long trips(over 6 hrs) allowed them to watch DVDs. The small portable are really quite inexpensive now. After listening to books on tape, which we do alot , I allow the movies. Anything to buy peace
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cgregas
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| Posted: June 28 2007 at 8:22am | IP Logged
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We have traveled a lot through the years and my boys love hidden picture books. Don't be surprised if you have to crawl in the backseat to help.
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5athome
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| Posted: June 28 2007 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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My children love the Leapster but disliked the leap pads we tried.
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Margaret
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Elizabeth
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I agree that Leapster is a winner and the Leappads never worked out.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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joann10
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We have Leapster lovers here.
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Tina P.
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What is Leapster? We have My First Leap Pad for the really young set. We were *supposed* to bring it on our trip across the states, but I forgot it. It was neatly placed at the side of my bed all ten days that we were gone. Anyway, my six-and-unders like that.
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5athome
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| Posted: July 04 2007 at 8:38pm | IP Logged
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A Leapster is similar to a Gameboy type game device but the game choices are relatively educational. The games are geared to different ages & subject matter. My boys really love Math Baseball. They have recently come out with some new game cartidges.
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Margaret
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: opinions about leap frog
